The McKinsey Quarterly

2007

• June 2007 

  Delivering software as a service

  A new delivery method is shaking the software industry’s foundations. Traditional vendors should take heed.

• March 2007 

  How businesses are using Web 2.0: A McKinsey Global Survey

  By and large, executives are satisfied with their previous investments in Internet technology, and most are investing in trends that promote automation and networking online.

2006

• August 2006 

  Connecting CRM systems for better customer service

  Few companies gracefully pass sales leads and service information across the barriers of departments and business units. But those that do enjoy substantial rewards.

• May 2006 

  Two new tools that CIOs want

  Among the many technologies that CIOs are investigating, server virtualization and software as a service are emerging as key priorities.

• March 2006 

  Getting better software into manufactured products

  The problems of embedded software are rooted in the legacies of hardware development.

• March 2006 

  Using IT to boost call-center performance

  Call centers, making targeted improvements involving more cost-effective technologies, are finally saving money and improving revenues with IT.

• February 2006 

  The next generation of in-house software development

  How leading-edge companies are streamlining applications development.

• January 2006 

  Rethinking wholesale-banking operations

  By restructuring operations and aligning front and back offices, wholesale banks can cut costs dramatically and find new sources of revenue.

2005

• December 2005 

  IT remedies for US health care: An interview with WellPoint's Leonard Schaeffer

  The chairman of the largest publicly traded US health benefits company discusses the industry's future.

• December 2005 

  What's holding back online medical data

  Progress will be slow until all parties in the health care industry can see clear benefits.

• February 2005 

  Automated self-service comes to telcos

  Telecom companies play a key role in automating the sales and service processes of other sectors. Now they must automate their own.

• February 2005 

  The case for medical data online

  Information networks hold out the promise of improved care and cost savings, but hospitals can’t build them alone.

2004

• November 2004 

  Life insurers look to IT

  New IT investments are capable not only of making insurance companies more efficient but also of mitigating the losses from agents who leave.

• November 2004 

  When IT lifts productivity

  Companies should beef up their management practices before focusing on technology.

2003

• November 2003 

  Flexible IT, better strategy

  IT’s critics say that it lacks strategic importance. So why does technology keep getting in the way of good strategy?

• November 2003 

  Smart tags for your supply chain

  A new tracking technology is being touted by retailing and consumer product companies as the next big thing, but it isn’t ready for prime time.

• November 2003 

  The promise of purchasing software

  New software can provide procurement managers with more information about their operations but can’t overcome flawed processes.

• August 2003 

  Designing IT for business

  When business and computer people put their heads together, they can transform a company’s IT architecture.

• August 2003 

  The IT factor in mobile services

  Mobile-telecom companies must redraw their IT architecture if they hope to market new services quickly and cheaply.

• May 2003 

  Recentralizing IT

  Companies can run their IT systems more efficiently by creating new organizational structures in which IT departments and business units share responsibility.

• February 2003 

  Fighting complexity in IT

  To simplify a company’s information systems, look beyond them.

2000

• August 2000 

  The Paris guide to IT architecture

  City planners try to preserve viable old assets, to replace outmoded assets, and to add new assets—all in the context of an infrastructure linking them coherently. IT developers have a good deal to learn from that approach.

• June 2000 

  The software gap

  A McKinsey survey of 100 software companies around the world found clear distinctions between practices in Europe and those in the United States.

• May 2000 

  A second wind for ERP

  Implementing enterprise resource-planning systems can be intensely painful, and once you have them up and running they may seem to interfere with the speed and nimbleness required for electronic business. Are they a waste? No, but the real benefits aren’t always obvious.

1998

• May 1998 

  The case for ERP systems

  Too often it’s made on faith, not good judgment. Will it cut costs? Common pitfalls in implementation.

1997

• November 1997 

  Time to get rid of legacy systems?

  The real issue is people, not systems. Here’s how one utility addressed it.

• May 1997 

  IT in UK schools: It’s time for a strategy

  The United Kingdom has a higher ratio of computers per schoolchild than almost any other country, including the United States. Yet information technology has had little appreciable influence on educational standards. Schools policy has focused too much on providing hardware, and not enough on fully integrating computers into education.

1995

• November 1995 

  World class: Schools on the Net

  We can put classrooms on the information superhighway now. Is it worth 4 percent of the school budgets?

• August 1995 

  Healthcare’s IT mistake

  Tools, not toys. Billions have been invested in information technology. Where are the results? A failure to focus on productivity. Get practice guidelines to the point of care.

• August 1995 

  Navigating IT channels: Integrate or outsource?

  Financial institutions must focus on product development. But the skills to manage vendors are nonexistent. Handle it wrong and you lose the best people.

1994

• November 1994 

  The business promise of ’hub-and-spoke’ systems

  The approach used by airlines to manage complex route networks is now helping other companies manage their software networks.

• August 1994 

  Grasping the promise of client-server computing

  Harnessing new IT-based capabilities means striking the right balance between technological and organizational change.